There is no Competition

I love sports. Since I have been old enough to remember, sports have played a pivotal part in my life. First there was association football, which I found, to my delight, that I had a talent for. My love for football blossomed into a love affair, which only now is beginning to wane. From there I grew to love cricket( I wasn't bad at cricket) Rugby( not bad but wasn't strong enough to play)Basketball ( I was crap) and American football( Which I have never played, but still enjoy watching), and athletics. School was a time where I learnt to play, and compete in these activities, and even today those memories have stayed with me. But whoa to be young and in school nowadays. Where as in my days, teachers would take the time to supervise after school clubs, and games, nowadays, from what I can gather, this doesn't happen, largely due to health & safety fears, and the pressures placed on teachers. Also, the competitive aspect of sports is being taken out of schools, as administrators deem that the losing aspect in competitive sport could traumatise children, and delay their development. So no sports day, or inter class or schools leagues. To my mind they are trying to kill childhood all together. Trust me when I tell you that I never liked to lose (still don't) But I learnt that you can learn a lot from losing. But the biggest thing competitive sports can teach children are life lessons. Like it or not, when your children grow up, they will be in a competitive market. From getting that Job, or promotion, to winning that girls love, life is competitive. Sports can be a good preparation for this. Besides it's only by knowing the despair of defeat that you can fully enjoy the elation that victory brings. Besides this sports are beneficial for the health of our children. Many a time, me, my brother, and friends, would spend hours at the park, playing cricket, football or some such sport. This in turn gave us a love of physical activity that has stayed with us to this day. Plus we have made friendship that have lasted a lifetime. Now I know that nowadays there are more distractions with the computer, and satellite TV being available, but if schools could bring back the competitive element back into our education system, the benefit would extent to the whole nation. Lastly, as 2012 looms closer, to be in for a shout of any medals, wouldn’t it be wise to prepare our children to be competitive now?